Energy Tower developers end project

By Joseph Basco | jbasco@mrt.com

Published 5:45 pm, Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Photo: Tim Fischer/Reporter-Telegram

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In this file photo, Bill Meyer looks over a conceptual drawing of Energy Tower as Wendel "Scooter" Brown talks about it with then Mayor Wes Perry during a press conference in March 2013. Developers Energy Related Properties announced Wednesday they are canceling the project. less

In this file photo, Bill Meyer looks over a conceptual drawing of Energy Tower as Wendel "Scooter" Brown talks about it with then Mayor Wes Perry during a press conference in March 2013. Developers Energy ... more

Photo: Tim Fischer/Reporter-Telegram

Energy Tower developers end project

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Wednesday marked the end of the most ambitious downtown Midland development since the early 1980s, as developers of Energy Tower at City Center announced the cancellation of negotiations with the city.

In a letter emailed by Energy Related Properties President William Meyer on Wednesday, the Energy Tower team said it delivered a formal cancellation notice of the purchase and sale agreement to the city of Midland. The purchase and sale agreement outlined the plan for the city to give the former Midland County Courthouse to ERP once developers were more committed to the project.

The purchase and sale agreement and formal negotiations between ERP and the city began on March 18, 2013.

The announcement comes a day after ERP failed to appear a second time for a scheduled presentation during a City Council meeting. Unlike the first time the developers didn’t appear before council, they did not notify members beforehand that they would not be appearing.

The letter does not state a reason for halting the project, but it thanks the stakeholders involved in the project.

The letter then details ERP’s plan to stay invested in downtown Midland.

“Our commitment to Midland, specifically Downtown Midland, remains unshakable,” the letter states. “We are already implementing much of what we learned during the Energy Tower process to modernize and improve the infrastructure and operations at our existing properties to maximize our tenants’ experience.”

ERP owns the WNB Tower, Fasken Center and Independence Plaza downtown. It also owns office buildings along State Highway 191 and a Quality Inn Hotel in Cambridge, Ohio.

The letter ends with a statement that ERP will continue to explore opportunities in Midland.

Energy Tower was originally designed to be a 53-story, 869-foot-tall skyscraper on the site of the former courthouse, prime downtown property that the city owns. The mixed-use development was planned to have office space, hotel space, condominium space, retail space, convention space, park space and a large underground parking garage.

In April, the development went through a two-tower redesign that separated the office and retail space into one building and the hotel and convention space into the other. The redesign was made in response to the negative feedback from the Midland community concerning the original tower’s tall design.

The project also received constant criticism for the proposed tens of millions of dollars in incentive packages that the developers sought from the city.

The single-tower development was expected to cost $500 million, and the two-tower project was in the $300 million range.

The end of the Energy Tower project is reminiscent of other failed downtown developments in Midland’s past.

In the early 1980s, cattle entrepreneur David Porras was developing Energy Square, a 37-story office tower with a 12-story parking garage and adjoining hotel, as previously reported on Nov. 14, 1982, just before the oil bust. Energy Square, which was planned to occupy three blocks from the southeast corner of Big Spring Street and Missouri Avenue to Front Street, was a $97 million project.

The city of Midland made a Facebook post Wednesday evening, stating its appreciation for working with the developers. The release also mentioned that there have been no other official proposals for the property.

“The public should know that the City of Midland still retains ownership of the property where the previous County Courthouse sits, and we will work to ensure that any future project proposed for that property will benefit the community and encourage transparency,” the city said.